Browsing: UK Restaurants

“Edinburgh was freezing the night I headed to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society on Queen Street. I’d spent 15 minutes slipping and scuffing my way down tall hills in too-tall heels, wishing we had opted for a cab instead.”

“As you enter the Brasserie you will be greeted by a perfectly polished staff member, who leads you through the spacious dining room, filled with railway-era accents: polished steel railings, cobalt blue booths, mahogany chairs and slate floors.”

“The 143 reviews on Trip Advisor turned out to be spot on – praising Valerie Thomson for her outstanding preparation of the finest seafood, partnered with her daughter Vicky’s warm and welcoming front of house.”

When Heston Blumenthal bought his second pub in Bray, a few disgruntled locals of the gastro-hamlet expressed their irritation. There were puffed out cheeks and the waving of fists. Understandably, the inhabitants wished to hold onto their local ale house. How has The Crown fared?

Kings and Queens. Ships, Sails and Dinghies. Red Lions, Foxes, Goblins and Griffins. A pub name should not follow trend. We need more character taverns, muses David, on his way to visit The Gaggle of Geese in Dorset.

It’s a brave chef who opens his tasting menu with a potato; a Mayan Twilight, served with shavings of truffle, chard, artichoke and a hazelnut dressing. The chef is Robert Thompson of The Hambrough, Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight.

Former Head Chef at Claridges and one-time Gordon Ramsay right-hand-cook, Mark Sargeant, has opened his latest solo venture in his home county on the Kent coast. David Constable casts his net over the menu and indulges.